CAN YOU HELP THIS CLIENT DEAL WITH GUILT?

This client provides counseling services through phone/video calls to a variety of clients in Florida. The client also provides supervision to social work interns who need supervision hours in order to complete school or become licensed. The focus of this project is to address communication/interaction issues exhibited by some of the social work interns being supervised by the client.

The client expressed concerns that the interns were not effectively interacting with clients dealing with guilt. They were failing to provide adequate help to the clients dealing with guilt that they were seeing each week. Consequently, some clients dealing with guilt had a negative counseling experience.

Clients who felt like they weren’t being helped due to their counselor not properly listening to them, expressed their dissatisfaction to the supervisor and often did not schedule another appointment.

I recommended a scenario-based eLearning that allows current and future interns and counselors to effectively interact with clients dealing with guilt in a risk-free setting. Additionally, scenario-based eLearning will show the interns the realistic, memorable consequences of the most common mistakes when communicating with clients dealing with guilt. Actually, seeing these consequences and practicing the correct way to communicate and de-escalate situations with clients will help them be better equipped to avoid making similar errors in the real world. The client recognized that the eLearning training would help address their specific needs and gave approval to proceed with the proposed solution.

Throughout the entire project, I was engaged in a constant process of analysis and iteration, which consisted of continuously refining and improving the outcome. By having an ongoing feedback process and user testing, I was able to successfully craft a refined and perfected final version of the product.

I designed and developed the entire eLearning experience. This involved creating an action map, designing visually appealing mockups, and crafting a visual text-based storyboard. The purpose of the visual storyline was for the client to see how the text and images would work together. After this was made, I was able to develop an interactive prototype, and I was subsequently able to create the final project in Articulate Storyline.

To determine the key areas for the eLearning project, I collaborated closely with the head counselor and a seasoned counselor of the organization, who served as my Subject Matter Experts (SME) throughout the project. Together we identified all the possible actions that interns would have to take to successfully interact with clients. Then the SMEs prioritized the key actions that interns and possible future counselors must do to make the entire experience (counseling session) successful. Once the client gave their final approval of the key actions to successfully communicate with clients for the eLearning experience, I used MindMeister to develop an action map.

The action map revealed five high priority actions that were most crucial to acing interaction with clients dealing with guilt. These five actions became the foundation of the entire eLearning experience and helped guide the development of the text-based storyboard.

As I progressed towards creating the text-based storyboard, I used the top 5 priority actions derived from the action map as the correct answer options that ‘you’ as a learner/intern should choose, while the commonly made mistakes were as distractors.

Through conversations with the SMEs and referencing the action map, I was able to identify authentic repercussions that interns would encounter based on choices they made. I created a storyline that involved realistic situations and responses from an intern, client, and supervisor based on the input of the SMEs to enhance the realism and engagement of the eLearning experience. 

I primarily framed the scenario as an intern/novice counselor’s first day on the job, and I consulted with the SMEs to ensure each element was grounded in reality. Since the interaction between counselor and client is through a video call, I concluded that most scenarios should properly illustrate that on one side of the screen you will have the social work intern in their office and on the other side of the screen you will have the client in a different setting. 

In all 5 questions, I integrated a supervisor as the ‘mentor figure’ into the eLearning experience, giving the learners the opportunity to seek assistance when required. The feedback given by the supervisor simulates the guidance of actual supervisors because in real life there is a lot of feedback coming from the supervisor to the intern.    

If the learner makes an incorrect choice, they would either need to retry immediately or go through an extended sequence involving the client not feeling comfortable talking to them or the client getting aggravated and hanging up the video call. After which an email from the supervisor offering feedback on how to proceed would be displayed. This approach effectively showcases a range of realistic outcomes based on conversations with the SMEs. 

After obtaining approval for the text-based storyboard, I progressed to the visual design phase. To gain a clearer understanding of the project's appearance, I utilized Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe XD to generate visual mockups. This step was crucial in developing the eLearning experience as it enabled me to swiftly iterate and incorporate feedback into my slides prior to commencing development in Articulate Storyline 360.

Additionally, I selected a specific font type and weight for all headings and body text. To ensure consistency with the color palette, I sourced graphics and employed Adobe Illustrator to modify them before integrating them into the layouts crafted in Adobe XD.

Moreover, I aimed to create custom buttons and a unique progress bar, which led me to employ Adobe XD for the design of these elements as well.

After adding all the feedback and the creation of multiple iterations, I obtained approval for the visual design of the project. The client expressed satisfaction with the polished, professional, and visually captivating appearance that I had crafted using Adobe XD. This approach proved time efficient as it allowed me to swiftly tailor the design to the client's preferences without needing to make direct modifications within Storyline.

Next I created a comprehensive storyboard to provide the client with a better understanding of the entire eLearning project. To achieve this, I used a layout that has the all the elements conveniently in one single document (this includes slides, text, programming notes, and visuals). All of this enabled the client to grasp how all the elements would interact on the screen and gain a deeper comprehension of the project’s overall structure.  

Using Articulate Storyline 360, I developed an interactive prototype that incorporated the visual mockups and storyboard to establish the programming for the scenario. The prototype encompassed various components, including the title screen, scenario introduction, mentor introduction, and the consequences of both correct and incorrect answers for the first question.

To maintain a sense of narrative immersion, I integrated smooth fading transitions and precise animations for each prompt and slide element. Additionally, I created custom animations for the office and received email and audio.

Furthermore, the prototype featured the initial use of the client ‘anger meter’, which visually indicated the character's reactions to the learner's choices.

Upon receiving feedback for the initial version of my prototype, I was challenged to incorporate more intricate animations and interactions into the project. Embracing the challenge, I resolved to explore exit animations for smoother transition between layers and variables within Storyline.

With the foundational framework in place for the remainder of the project, I shared the prototype to gather feedback on the scenario's look, feel, and overall experience. The feedback received was positive, leading me to make minor adjustments to refine the transition times and add audio for receiving an email. Once I was satisfied with these enhancements, I proceeded to the full development stage.

Following extensive feedback and multiple rounds of revisions, I successfully fine-tuned the project's layout, animations, and interactions, ultimately reaching a point where I could proceed with full-scale development of the five-question project.

Creating the prototype prior to creating the whole eLearning experience proved to be a vital step. Had I decided to wait for feedback until the entire project was complete, I would have needed to redo all the animations across all five questions. By obtaining feedback from throughout the process, specifically on the first two questions, the development process became notably more productive and efficient.

The journey of fully developing this project presented both challenges and rewarding experiences. I swiftly familiarized myself with the intricate functionalities such as layers of Articulate Storyline and applied them within the project's timeline. 

Among my proudest achievements are the captivating entrance and exit animations, between slides and layers which give the project a seamless and streamlined sensation as users progress through the scenarios. 

Developing these animations proved to be the most time-intensive aspect, as I delved into the realms of creating variables, manipulating them through triggers, and implementing conditional triggers based on the user's selected choices. Mastering these functions was vital as they facilitated a training experience with fluid and consistent animations, irrespective of the chosen answer.

Custom Visuals: I carefully curated each visual asset from an image repository and utilized PowerPoint to ensure a cohesive and immersive appearance. This involved tasks such as resizing, layer editing, recoloring specific elements, and merging assets to maintain visual harmony.

Prescriptive Feedback - Mentor: For each question of the eLearning experience, learners have the option to seek guidance from a mentor named Supervisor Carol, who provides recommendations for their responses. This mentor helps steer learners toward the appropriate response while offering explanations for the effectiveness of those choices. I developed a custom mentor button using PowerPoint to seamlessly integrate the mentor into each question prompt.

Gamification - Client Anger Meter: To enhance learner engagement and contextualize the client's emotions, I incorporated an anger meter as a form of light gamification. The meter's fluctuations in response to choices provide immediate feedback and contribute to the overall customer satisfaction reports. I deliberately chose to have the meter go from left to right, with far left being calm and far right being agitated, this is a way to parallel the intended de-escalation of the client’s anger.

The client and subsequent users warmly received the product. The primary feedback highlighted its cleanliness, professionalism, and user-friendliness. Users particularly appreciated the well-chosen colors and the consistent implementation of character styles throughout the experience.

This project served as a valuable learning opportunity, granting me a comprehensive understanding of the instructional design process from inception to completion. It enabled me to design, develop, and refine a scenario-based learning experience that effectively addressed real-life performance issues. Action mapping emerged as a crucial component, allowing me to focus on the scenarios and how to properly implement a convincing story. 

The development phase of this project proved instrumental in deepening my familiarity with tools that facilitate the creation of professional and high-quality eLearning experiences. I realized the immense importance of every detail in the learning experience, including buttons, spacing, text font and weight, and consistent animations. These details make the difference between a mediocre and an outstanding experience.

Equipped with the right tools and having gained proficiency and comfort with them, I successfully delivered a product that exemplifies cleanliness, consistency, and vibrancy. While there is always room for growth and improvement, I now possess a solid grasp of the skills and tools necessary to develop professional and top-tier eLearning solutions.